CKAD exam PSI Bridge platform July 2022

Yeah, I wrote a post about this the day they changed environments, unfortunately I took the test then. They essentially erased my test attempt after I submitted a ticket, so I'll try again later. The experience was terrible, I hope the Linux Foundation will find a way out of that contract.

this surprises me 0%. That whole industry is full of shady bullshit.

The first AWS exam I took at a testing center in Austin was 3 hrs in August with no A/C.

I passed the CKA exam yesterday (barely) using this new environment. Here are my thoughts and suggestions.

Pre-Exam

• They allow you 30 mins before your test to get all of the pre-exam process crap out of the way. Use every min of that 30 mins. The process of doing all of the room scanning with your camera, and trying to get good pictures of your documents (ID) is time consuming and annoying.

• You can't use headphones or even have speakers turned on. They only talk to you over chat, so you have no need to hear them. The proctor told me to turn off my speakers I had. They also told me to turn off the computer I had behind me (no monitor hooked up, but they saw the LED on).

• Make sure the camera you use for the test can be moved all over your testing area. You will be taking video of your floor and behind the computer and all around you. You will be lifting up your keyboard and your mouse pad to show them underside of them. I'm not sure how flexible they are with cameras build into monitors or laptops, but good luck to you.

• I totally agree with OP, you go through this whole testing area scan by recording videos for them. Then the proctor comes on and you literally have to go through the same exact process you just completed. Ridiculous.

New PSI Virtual Desktop Test Environment

• Like it has been said, it is literally a linux desktop session using MATE or XFCE not sure which. But it was based on XFCE. I felt at home on this environment. mainly because I use it everyday for my desktop. The terminal they use now is the one built into XFCE so you can pop open as many tabs as you want during the test. I've heard that in the past you only had one window to work with and had to use a terminal multiplexer like TMUX to get multiple windows. That is what I trained using, but then they pulled this new desktop crap and that went out the window (along with other suff, more later). So I see this new terminal as an improvement. I sometimes had 3 terminals open during the test so it was a welcomed change.

• I've seen some people here mention copy/paste issues. I'll just tell you what worked for me. Because this is a Linux environment, anything you copied from the Firefox browser or the Terminal was pasteable by using the middle mouse button. Some people don't have a middle mouse button and can right click and paste I believe. If you click and copy something from the test instructions then you had to use the Ctrl-Shift-v to paste it into the Term window. If I got confused on which type of paste I had to do I just tried either of them and one of them worked. I'm sorry I can't speak to people who don't have middle mouse buttons or similar.

• You can have multiple tabs open in the Firefox browser, so I guess that is one sightly nice change from only allowing 1 tab open for docs from before.

• There is a notepad type application in the desktop menu called "mousepad". It's not under the top menu but in a secondary menu I can't remember the name of. There are not a lot of secondary menus or applications so you should be able to find it quickly. I used that to keep track of what questions I had answered already so I would not lose track.

Exam

• As mentioned you can't use bookmarks anymore. I was pissed about this because I spent a month or 2 crafting a nice bookmark list for the test, so I could quickly get to the info I needed. You are now stuck with just searching through kubernetes.io/docs for all of your info now.

• The other big surprise I had on test day is they took away access to github.com/kubernetes which had all of the example manifests. I trained on where to find examples I needed in a timely manner. I was super pissed about this. The test is hard enough, and the time required is not enough in my opinion, but it seems like they are actively trying to set people up to fail this exam. It takes so much longer to have to search for an example of the manifest file your looking for in the search bar on the website. I would have thought they wanted people to pass this damn exam, and not keep making it harder and harder. Just so people know the only sites left you can access during the exam are helm.sh/docs kubernetes.io/docs kubernetes.io/blog. That's it. This is enforced by the Firefox browser in test environment, as they have locked it down so you can't get to any other sites during the test.

Suggestions for exam takers

I'll likely repeat things that others have written, but I'll just reiterate what worked for me.

• Run through all of the questions first before starting your answers. Find the high value questions first (they tell you the % weight of the question in the upper right hand corner). Find all of the high value questions you think you have a good chance of answering, and do them first. High value usually means it takes more time to do. There are some high values that I absolutely skipped because I did not think the time doing it was worth the percentage assigned to the question. Like if a 8% worth question I thought might take me 15 mins to do, but there were two 3% questions I know I could knock out in 10 mins. I'd just do the two 3%'s and give up the 2% of the 8% I might have gotten, and put that extra time into other questions I might know better. So you really need to become a good judge of where your strengths lie, and play to them. My strengths happened to be in troubleshooting so I tried finding the "this is broke, go fix it" questions.

• Start practicing searching kubernetes.io/docs for the info you believe you will need (like manifest examples) on the test. Find the keywords that work to get to the info as quickly as possible. Like for finding how to upgrade a cluster I thought "upgrade cluster" might be good, and there is a page for "Upgrade a Cluster", but the page is not what you need. What you need to search for is "upgrade kubeadm". That gives you the direct link to the upgrade instructions.

• Use the mousepad (text editor) program (or even a vim session in another terminal) in the desktop menu to keep track of your answered questions. They allow you to "flag" questions you would like to come back to, but give you no way of finding all the flagged questions in one spot. Your left sifting through all the questions 1 by 1 to find the "flagged" questions. This is to time consuming. Just open a text editor and keep track of the number of the question you answered in the editor. A bonus to this is you can put notes next to to question number like "only answered half this question".

• I put the number of the question I was answering at the front of the filename I was creating so I knew what file went with what question. So if question 7 had me make a pod, then the file would be "7-pod.yaml".

• From what I've read, the questions are scored in parts. So even if you only can get done half a questions worth work, and can't figure out the other half then you will get some points for what you have done. Go do the questions you think you can answer fully first, but if it comes down to it and time is running out just doing parts of questions might get you a few points.

I needed additional context, so I figured I would share what I found.

• New proctoring platform: https://docs.linuxfoundation.org/tc-docs/certification/tips-cka-and-ckad#what-is-the-certified-kubernetes-administrator-cka-certification
• https://training.linuxfoundation.org/blog/update-on-certification-exam-proctoring-migration/

Note the "lag" entry in the "issues" table.

I, too, got the "full tour" of problems when I took the CKAD in mid-December. This sounds even more problematic. At this point, I would prefer just an in-person proctored exam.

Couldn't you just close the laptop and use the external monitor only?

I took CKA last summer and one of the clusters they have you upgrade wasn’t responsive. Of course the rep was of no help. Luckily I passed…

Remotly proctored exams in general are pretty annoying. I once had an exam with PearsonVue, had to install some software, wich messed up my system. All sorts of UI settings were changed, some of which took me hours to find and revert afterwards.

A giant pita.

Agree with everything. Create a ticket , they will give you a refund. And indeed what a bad rep for the Linux Foundation. Other will take note and perhaps they will go to different certifications, since this one with the new system is designed for the candidate to fail.

I have too, failed the first exam attempt due to this. I was super angry.

The environment has nothing to do with what we practised. Seems really unfair.

Same thing happened to me, is there anyway we can take the exams without using the psi bridge environment. The exam is already tough enough and there is no additional time add

Yes absolutrly correct, I also faced this yesterday while taking the exam...remote desktop was not getting loaded in the beginning and proctor could not help and not aware of the issue. then support came after 10 minutes to check for the issue and somehow it loaded and then they raised some ticket which I dont have idea as i could not find it anywhere in my account and ask for feedback.

this is such irritating especially during exam time and doing this had almost wasted 30 minutes in beginning as well as my confidence. Also I was not offered any extra time even after requesting with proctor and experience was very bad with PSI.

They should have properly tested it before releasing it live as well as provide some demo environment for same.

UI was too bad that it was not possible to switch between terminal and browser as space not enough for screen to accomodate. You will have to scroll a lot to check anything and paste.

they should refund money having all these issue persist else resolve it before going for handing over it for testing.

​

Thanks

Abhinav

Unbelievable!! I had the same experience on Monday (11 July) when I wrote the CKAD exam (more like attempted to write)... The crazy shit I had to endure I cannot wish that on any candidate. Here are some issues I faced I think they should definitely work on;

1. The pre-exam process was ridiculously long, and you may spend up to 15 mins just waiting to be connected to a proctor who will make sure you see hell before you even start with the exam.
2. When I finally managed to get to the exam window, my God... words alone cannot describe the frustration;- the timer immediately started while the pop-ups on the environment are still running. To make matters worse, I was provided with a buggy linux desktop that at first glance looks like you are only presented a third of the screen. As if that's not enough, the moment I tried to even start to interact with the environment I started getting a "WAITING" or "TUNNEL ERROR" errors (mind you my network is very stable)... when I even got a chance to type anything the environment responded to input after many seconds. Trying to communicate with the proctor was not even helpful, after 10 mins of trying to get their attention, I'm told to hold, then 5 minutes later I'm redirected to "technical support" who start by getting my details before they even try helping (remember, the timer still running and not even a single question attempted).
3. After some back and forth, I'm told to restart my PC and relaunch the PSI Bridge browser which I did and guess what, after that I had to do the whole pre-exam process and be assigned to another proctor who had no idea of the issue I was facing and was only concerned with making sure I just started writing the exam. I complied, only to get the same crazy environment- flickering desktop screen, pixelated desktop, and errors written all over.

To make a long story short, I did not manage to attempt a single question and the only thing I could get was a wasted day and wasted phone credit calling these guys. I'm sure this platform was not fully tested and whichever delivery system they use does not work globally. Also, the system check you do before the exam does not reflect what you experience during the exam.

Still waiting for any feedback from them regarding my retake/refund (which I'm sure won't be helpful if I'm to get the same experience again).

I took CKA exam yesterday and yes it was a horrible experience.

• I used macbook air 13”. I prepared myself to deal with using the small screen as I read that 2 monitors is not allowed.

• I’ve installed bsi bridge browser and granted the necessary permission to my mac without issue.

• I went through the 1st admission processes (taking id photos, profile photo, checking mic—which is no use, checking number of monitors, terminating other apps opened like dropbox, browser etc). Waited for the proctor to message in the chat. Then scanning/panning my camera around the room, check desk, mobile phone, water bottle, hands if wearing watch.

• I asked if I can use my monitor so I can have a better screen. The proctor allowed it so I plugged in my monitor with mirror display configuration (it’s the only configuration available in mac afaik to have a single monitor setup). It got detected by the psi bridge and it prompted to be closed. The psi bridge closed and I have to launch it.

• Every new launch of psi bridge will get you through the same admission process — from checking id through checking your room again. This is the process that the proctor is following to release the exam.

• While my monitor is plugged in and went trough the psi bridge checks, it detected that I have 2 monitors (one from my macbook and one from my monitor) so it cannot proceed to admission process. I gave up so I decided to use my 13” macbook screen.

• After doing 3rd checks and admission process, I was able to start the exam. I started the exam my timer started to count down as well. But while I am working on question number 1, another another admission process window appeared, it seems that the last proctor got disconnected so a new proctor replaced it. This started me to be annoyed. My exam started but proctor is asking me to check my room and everything again. It consumed 10-15mins of my exam time.

• I continued with my exam. I have 15-20mins left and still have 4 questions to answer when I got disconnected from the internet. So I can’t contact the proctor and decided to close the psi bridge browser and open it again.

• Again, reopening the psi bridge browser did another checks and process admission. This time it took more time. I was worried that I will not be able to get back to my exam or my timer will ran out. The proctor assured me that I will be able to get back to where I left as well as the timer.

• And the horror happened. I got back to my exam and the timer went red with “Exam finished”. 4 questions with 7% weight left unanswered.

• I did chat with the proctor, unfortunately proctor can’t do anything about it. Proctor provided the numbers and asked me to contact their technical support. I told the proctor they should contact the support. It took more than an hour but nothing to resolve the issue.

• The proctor cannot advise if I should click the End Exam button which I don’t want to do because I want to get my remaining time and finish answering all remaining questions.

• I asked if there is a talk/speak feature so I can speak with them. The mic test/check is pointless.

• I decided to just close the psi bridge browser but not end the exam.

• Then I contacted their support. I called them from Australia via their international number. The call is pointless, they suggested to retake the exam and they cannot bring back the exam time I lost because it’s finished. At this point I just told them that it’s a bad experience and ended the call.

• I opened the psi bridge browser again so I can click the End Exam button as I know there’s nothing that can do to fix the issue. I went through the same checks and admission process again and clicked the End Exam button. Then just waited for 24 hours to get the result.

• The checks and processes took more time than actual taking the exam.

Luckily, while I am composing this comment. I got my result and passed the exam.

Good luck to all candidates! Please remember that you will not only be dealing with the exam questions/problems but also with its platform specifically its slowness. And most importantly if you can make sure you will not get disconnected.

I passed CKA before the change and it was a not fun experience. They couldn’t read my ID for like 5 minutes. Copy paste was terrible.

Yea, I had a similar experience with AWS SA associate. Took 15 minutes for them to read my id

I really don't want to go through this horrible process again but I
guess it's a monopoly?

There are not any alternatives out there, are
there?

I agree to this. I did my CKS on July 30th 2022. I joined 30 mins prior to the exam, but could able to complete the pre-exam process only after 40 mins (due to photo ID blurry issue and proctors don't have patience where they just ignore and reject). And I also, struggled a bit in using the new interface (while taking exam) as it is kind of slow and browsers scrolling were so fast.

As most of them registered, this really created stress and impacted my exam (like I did minor mistakes in few questions even though the questions are easy ones). But I cleared the exam.

Regarding the bookmarks, all the required links were available in the question itself. Example: If the question is about Admission Controllers, then in the question itself u will have the link to Admission Controllers documentation and so just click it to refer.

Overall, it is not an easy experience for me where I prepared so well, but due to these pre-exam process and new portal challenges, I had a hard/stressful time while answering.

I request the platform to give an easy to use environment (including pre-checks), so that candidate could focus only in displaying what they learnt.

I'm a bit late but I need a place to rant. I did 2 certifications on the psi platform. The CKA and Vault associates.

I did the CKA first a couple of monts ago. THE LINUX SUPPORT FOR A LINUX FOUNDATION EXAM IS UNACCEPTABLE.

I have 1 windows PC, but it's not stable enough to write the exam and I don't fancy doing the exam on the couch. But non of my Linux PCs where supported. I use fedora and Ubuntu but they only support Ubuntu 20.04 and 18.04. I had to install a 2 year old operating system.